Monday, July 26, 2010

Top 10 Albums, #10 - Hybrid Theory

Since I'll be talking about music a lot in this blog, I decided I should start it off by talking about my top 10 favorite albums ever. So each day for the next 2 weeks (following a M-F schedule), I will post the next part of the list, starting today with #10. Enjoy.

#10 Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory (Warner Bros., 2000)

Hybrid Theory was an interesting album. An (at the time) unique blend of eletronics and organic rock without being electro-rock, a combination of hip-hop and hard rock while staying away from the rap-metal and nu-metal that were popular at the time. Linkin Park created a unique, amazing debut full-length (they had already released an EP of the same name) that skillfully balanced traditional rock vocals from Chester Bennington and rap vocals from Mike Shinoda over a solid drum (Rob Bourdon) and bass (Brad Delson for most of the album, the role was later filled by LP’s original bass player Dave Farrell, who had left the band prior to recording) foundation with borderline metal guitar (Delson, again), with additional beats, keyboards and turntables by Mr. Hahn (Joe Hahn). From the opening track, “Papercut,” to the closer, “Pushing Me Away,” there is not a single throw-away track. I’m not a fan of instrumental tracks, but even “Cure For The Itch,” performed entirely by Mr. Hahn, is enjoyable.I got this album a little while after it came out, in my junior year of high school. I had seen the video for “Crawling” during the few month span that I watched MTV and enjoyed the song. My dad had some free albums from Columbia House, so I convinced him to get Hybrid Theory. I used to lie on my bed for hours, listening to this album over and over. After a remix album, Reanimation, they followed up with the disappointing (to me, at least) Meteora, and I kinda stopped listening to them for a while. While preparing this list, I pulled it out and started listening to it again and remembered how much I loved it.